Human mothers have an urge to protect their children its called maternal instinct. All female animals on earth have an urge to reproduce (though not always to protect their young as certain mothers eat their babies). Hens also have the urge to reproduce and protect their offspring. A broody hen is a hen that has become overcome with the need to not only make eggs but to start making babies.
Chickens are birds (a little known fact) and like all birds they lay eggs to reproduce. After they have laid several eggs usually around 5 or 6 they decide that they have enough eggs and decide to start incubating. Once the eggs are incubated for several hours they "activate" and the baby chick within begins to develop. This is why a batch of eggs will hatch at the same time even though the eggs were laid at different times.
However since someone who keeps chickens collects the chickens eggs the hen isn't able to accumulate enough eggs to reach that critical stage where it starts to get broody. However sometimes a chicken gets so frustrated with having their eggs taken away that they decide that they don't need 6 or 8 eggs, they decide they only need 1 or 2. So they become broody with only a small number of eggs. Some species of chickens are more likely to become broody then others.
Broody Hens are bad because they will stop you from collecting eggs from that nesting box and they will stop laying eggs. Not only that but broodiness is contagious and once one hen starts to get broody other hens will follow suit. This is of course if you don't want to increase the size of the flock if you want your hens to be mothers then this will be a good thing. But for the majority of us a broody hen can be detrimental to our egg production.
You might think that your broody chicken will starve to death because she never seems to leave her nesting box. But hens take breaks to drink and eat but they feel uncomfortable leaving their eggs when your around even if they have known you their entire life.
The most likely time for a chicken to become broody is in the spring time. Chickens are even more likely to become broody if its the spring of their second year. It should be noted that their eggs wont hatch if you don't have roosters. If you want to stop your chickens from being broody then the best way is just to collect the eggs but if they have been broody for a while then their are different things you can do. If they have been broody for only a day then just take their eggs. If they have been broody for longer then you will either have to either separate them from the flock (preferably put them in a cooler environment). Also you might want to either remove or bar off the nesting box.
Chickens are birds (a little known fact) and like all birds they lay eggs to reproduce. After they have laid several eggs usually around 5 or 6 they decide that they have enough eggs and decide to start incubating. Once the eggs are incubated for several hours they "activate" and the baby chick within begins to develop. This is why a batch of eggs will hatch at the same time even though the eggs were laid at different times.
However since someone who keeps chickens collects the chickens eggs the hen isn't able to accumulate enough eggs to reach that critical stage where it starts to get broody. However sometimes a chicken gets so frustrated with having their eggs taken away that they decide that they don't need 6 or 8 eggs, they decide they only need 1 or 2. So they become broody with only a small number of eggs. Some species of chickens are more likely to become broody then others.
Broody Hens are bad because they will stop you from collecting eggs from that nesting box and they will stop laying eggs. Not only that but broodiness is contagious and once one hen starts to get broody other hens will follow suit. This is of course if you don't want to increase the size of the flock if you want your hens to be mothers then this will be a good thing. But for the majority of us a broody hen can be detrimental to our egg production.
You might think that your broody chicken will starve to death because she never seems to leave her nesting box. But hens take breaks to drink and eat but they feel uncomfortable leaving their eggs when your around even if they have known you their entire life.
The most likely time for a chicken to become broody is in the spring time. Chickens are even more likely to become broody if its the spring of their second year. It should be noted that their eggs wont hatch if you don't have roosters. If you want to stop your chickens from being broody then the best way is just to collect the eggs but if they have been broody for a while then their are different things you can do. If they have been broody for only a day then just take their eggs. If they have been broody for longer then you will either have to either separate them from the flock (preferably put them in a cooler environment). Also you might want to either remove or bar off the nesting box.
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